The Ring Killer
by the.nerd.voice
Summary: When Doctor Megan Hunt fills in for Doctor Morales, a crime from her past seems to rear it's ugly head on the other side of the country. Can she finally put it all to rest with the help of Captain Sharon Raydor and the rest of the Major Crimes squad? Also, what will happen when Rusty and Lacey strike up a friendship that could be ruined by their parental figures? Beta by kygirlxx.


_**Interior - LAX Airport - 8:45AM**_

Megan Hunt walks with her daughter through the airport, her mobile phone to her ear, "Tommy, we're fine. It's only for a couple of weeks." She pauses in her stride to see her daughter catch up to her before she walks again, "I know I said it would only be for the conference, but a friend of mine asked me to fill in for him while he is on his honeymoon with his husband." She begins to smirk, "You'll be able to survive without me. You were able to do so all the years when we weren't together."

Lacey smirks as she listens to her mother. She glances down to her insulin pump, then her cell phone, scrolling through the various text messages from her friends expressing their jealousy of her trip. She glances up, seeing a driver with a sign waiting to pick them up. The teenager gently touches her mother on the arm, motioning over to the man.

_**Interior - Sharon Raydor's Apartment - 9AM**_

"Rusty, you have an entire month before you need to be back at school." Sharon Raydor walks through the condo, sipping her coffee out of a travel mug, "Why are you so worried about lack of a social life?"

"Spending my entire day with the LAPD doesn't exactly sound like a whole lot of fun, Sharon." Rusty calls to her, sitting on his bed with his laptop, "I mean...can't I get a job or something?"

"How about you come with me and my division can have you do little odds and ends around the office?" The woman offers him a smile, tugging her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, because when I say I miss having friends or interaction with people my own age, that totally means hanging out with the geriatric squad." He glances to her, "Come on, something..."

"You have to come today. Tomorrow, maybe we'll figure something out, but you can't be alone. It's the only way that DDA Rios is going to relax when it comes to you staying here."

"I'm aware...sadly..."

Sharon nods, "So, why don't you bring your laptop with you? Possibly your summer reading, I mean...I didn't buy you that iPad for nothing." She takes another sip of her coffee, adjusting her hands on either side of the mug to warm them.

"Because people my age totally use iPads for reading and only for reading. Is that what the guy told you at the Apple store?" Rusty smirks, closing up his laptop, placing it into a neoprene case before shoving it into his usual knapsack.

"I could take it back, you know."

He sighs, "I didn't say I wasn't appreciative. I just don't like when people try to take advantage of you is all."

Sharon blushes softly, "We're leaving in ten minutes." Moving from the doorway, she grins.

_**Interior - Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Office Building - 10AM**_

"Did you see the doctor filling in for Morales?" Louie Provenza raises his eyebrows, looking over his desk toward his friend and longtime partner.

Andy Flynn sighs, shaking his head, "Don't start this again."

"Flynn, I felt sparks."

He rolls his eyes, "If that's what you want to call that."

"Bet I can get her number." Provenza nods.

"I bet that would be a bad idea if you were to try." Flynn smiles, lifting his phone when it begins to ring, "We've got a murder. Captain may be interested in this one."

"I've been handling them just fine." He looks to his friend incredulously.

"Yeah, but you're a little preoccupied with attractive women who cut up dead bodies for a living." He stands, pulling his suit jacket from the back of the chair and tugging it on.

_**Interior - LAPD Office Building - 10:15AM**_

"There's a murder." Megan slides her smaller iPad into her purse, holding her phone in her hand.

Lacey sighs, "I don't know why you made me come with you..."

"Sweetie, it's Los Angeles. The LAPD building may be an interesting place for you to explore." She nods, "Now, I must attempt to find this crime scene using the GPS on my phone, which is hardly reliable to begin with, in a city I've visited twice in my entire life."

The teenager raises an eyebrow, "Sounds like it will be tough. You should get a move on it, maybe."

Megan rolls her eyes, "If you need me, call me." She walks through the halls, seeing the usual jacket of the coroner, "Mind if I catch a ride with you?"

Kendall picks his head up, "Um...Who are you?"

"I'm filling in for Morales." The woman smiles to him, showing her the address on her phone, "Is this where you're going?"

He nods, smirking, "Yeah, but he doesn't usually come on these things."

"Well, he isn't here right now, so we're going to work things my way until he returns." She climbs into the vehicle with him.

Kendall doesn't say much during their journey, keeping a close eye on her, "Do you go to these things where you're from?"

"Philadelphia? Yeah. It usually helps me get a feel for the victim's wounds and the body's whereabouts at the time of death." Megan answers him, almost dismissively. "Morales doesn't?"

"Well, Doctor Morales allows me to do my job and inform him of what was at the crime scene."

"Have you ever been wrong?" When he doesn't answer, she nods, "That's what I thought."

_**Exterior - Mulholland Drive Crime Scene - 10:45AM**_

Sharon stands over the body, placing her hands on her hips, her hands covered with the usual black latex gloves, "Detective, which one of his fingers is he missing?"

"His ring finger just above the knuckle. Enough to still be able to put a ring on, but also enough to be weird." Sanchez nods, "Doesn't look like much of anything. Cut to the throat with..."

"Let me be the judge of that." Megan Hunt nods to the man, walking towards them, but able to hear him from just exiting the car.

Raydor picks her hand up, "And you are..." She waits for the slightly younger woman to finish the sentence.

"Captain Raydor, this is Megan Hunt, Doctor Morales's replacement while he's on his honeymoon." Kendall gives her a look of warning. He wasn't quite sure what he was warning her of, but he knew she needed it.

Sharon offers the other woman a cordial smile, offering her hand to her as she places her purple gloves on.

Megan notices her extended hand and shakes it with her own, "Thank you. I can handle it from here." She nods to Kendall, watching him for a moment before the man walks away. She sighs, crouching down slightly to closer examine the body while at the crime scene, "Murder weapon is a straight edged blade...I'd almost be willing to say the blade is longer in length...possibly a katana..."

"A katana? That's a very specific choice of blade, Doctor Hunt." Sharon watches her.

She tilts the victim's head to the side, noticing the cut made at his ear, "Young male, mid twenties, about one hundred and seventy to one hundred and eighty pounds. His job was something where there was constant washing of the hands or he was Obsessive Compulsive. Relatively clean otherwise. There doesn't appear to be much of a struggle." She stands, glancing between his hand and the missing portion of his ear. She waves Kendall over, letting him know the body was ready for transport, "Check liver temp before you move him." The woman picks her head up, looking to the officer in charge, "Captain, would you mind coming straight to the exam room when you return to the office?"

Raydor furrows her brow, this woman was unusual, but something about her intrigues her. "Absolutely."

_**Interior - LAPD Office Building - 11AM**_

Rusty sits at his usual desk, sighing when he touches the screen of his tablet computer. He leans back in the chair, putting his feet up on the desk.

Lacey walks by, then stops when she notices someone her own age. "Hi." She smiles sweetly to him.

He falls back in the chair, not surprising anyone to be in the general to be at the station.

"Sorry." She rushes to his side, crouching to help him up, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't. Just didn't hear you...or see you." Rusty smirks, standing and fixing the chair, "I'm Rusty."

"Lacey." The girl nods, "Are you a cop too?"

His smile broadens, "Oh...God, no. Forced to be here instead of staying home and relaxing or going out with friends though. You?"

"Same. I would have rather gone out to get a burger and fries or a salad. Maybe even see the sights. Not just sit around." Lacey pushes her hair behind her ear.

"It's still morning."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be made to sit around here all day." She shrugs, "May as well brace for the inevitable."

Rusty grins, "Yeah, I feel your pain. I have my laptop and stuff. Or, there's a chess set that I keep in Sharon's office. Do you play chess?"

"I don't really know how."

"Oh...I can teach you, if you're interested." He shrugs, "Not much to do around here."

"Okay, yeah, sure." Lacey smiles to him, watching him jog off excitedly. She bites her lip, lifting her mobile phone from her pocket and texting her friend about a cute boy she just met. Not that she wants to date him, but it's nice to have some company.

_**Exterior - Mulholland Drive Crime Scene - 11:15AM**_

"Captain, you may want to take a look at this." Amy Sykes jogs as she see the woman heading toward her car, "I'm pretty sure it's the murder weapon."

Sharon picks her head up, following the younger detective to an area behind the house, "What's this?"

"A mancave, Captain." She smirks, "That's not what I called you for though." Sykes shakes her head, motioning to the display case on the wall, "Sanchez kicked the door in and we came to this."

Raydor smiles ever so slightly, "A collection of Japanese swords." She leans in, "With one missing."

"Right. We were able to pull some prints off the glass. Might be able to help us, so we put a rush on them."

"Thank you, Amy." She grins more, "And great work. See you back at the office."


End file.
